The Fractured Key: Ven's Story
by Greatwestern1522
Summary: Before Sora, Riku and Kairi, there was Aqua, Terra and Ventus. Everything will lead back to the beginning. Discontinued
1. A Meeting Between Hearts

Several years ago, there was a boy who lived on the world known as the Destiny Islands. As he stood at the edge of the beach watching the sunset, he uttered a phrase that reflected his disdain for this place. "This world, is just too small." Several years passed, and the boy was now an elderly man who held a cloak in one of his arms.

"There, you see? An empty world, like a prison. I imagine you'll be right at home." The elderly man then placed the girl on the trunk of a tree native only to that world. But the girl did not respond, for her heart was in turmoil after the darkness within had been forcibly removed. The eyes of the girl slowly closed as she felt what little light she had left slipping away.

Then, a new voice was heard. "Hey, where am I?" it asked.

"Who's there?" the cloaked girl asked back. But the voice never answered her. The girl felt herself falling through water, yet she was able to breathe for some reason. The cloak dissolved into light to reveal a girl with blonde hair that spiked upwards and deep blue eyes.

The girl landed on a platform and she looked at her surroundings with a dull expression. Then, the voice spoke again. "I'm a brand new heart," it said.

"But this is- why are you in my heart?"

"The light brought me," it responded. "I saw it shining in the distance, and followed it here."

"Yeah, that was my light," the girl said and placed a hand on her chest.

"But my heart is fractured. And now… The little I have left is slipping away."

"Then you should join your heart with mine," the voice suggested.

"Huh?" Then, light appeared out of nowhere and washed over the platform that the girl was standing on.

"Now our hearts have touched," the voice told her while the fractured section of the heart station was filled in. "Nothing else will slip away. And one day…you'll be strong enough to win back the part that already did."

"Right, thanks," the girl said and closed her eyes once more.

"It's time to wake up now. All we need to do is…"

"Open the door." The white vanished from the heart station to reveal a green stained glass platform with a giant likeness of the girl with her eyes closed on it.

Back on the Destiny Islands, the elderly man turned and started walking away when the girl raised her hand into the air. The man paused and turned around to see a Keyblade materialize in her right hand. "A Keyblade?" The Keyblade in question was mostly gray except for a gold guard and three gold lines located further up the Keyblade.

Two bars connected the teeth to the rest of the Keyblade. A keychain was located near the guard and a green gem surrounded by wind was attached to the keychain. Further up the Keyblade, five teeth jutted out at odd angles to form a wing pattern. There was also a narrow bar attached to the Keyblade so it could be held.

The tip of the Keyblade then emenated pure light and a beam of light flew upwards into the night sky until it connected with something and a lock clicked.

The man watched with interest and smiled as her eyes slowly opened and particles of light were reflected in them like a mirror. The scene shifted to a room bathed in moonlight. The girl sighed heavily as she lied on her bed before sitting up. Her attention was then drawn to the window and she looked outside to see a light racing across the night sky.

"A meteor shower," the girl said excitedly and briefly stumbled as she jumped off the bed so she could go outside to watch it. After exiting her room, the girl sprinted through the castle located in the Land of Departure until she reached the entrance hall and started walking towards the doors. Once she reached them, the girl strained with effort and the doors let out an ominous creak that awoke the other residents of the castle as they were forced open.

After sneaking out of the castle, the girl ran down the steps and found herself in a courtyard. "I can't see much from here," the girl said and continued running. After several minutes of running, the girl paused to catch her breath and noticed a giant golden ring attached to a wooden post.

"I've got time to spare." And with that, the girl summoned her Keyblade as she started swinging at it. After hitting it for several minutes, the girl noticed four golden rings attached to another wooden post and ran towards it. "What, you want a piece of me too?" the girl asked and started swinging at them with her Keyblade.

After several minutes of swinging at them with her Keyblade, she grew restless when she realized something. "Wait, what am I messing around here for? I'm gonna miss the meteor shower."

The girl headed down a path and she stared up at the night sky. "Wow," she said before laying down and positioning her hands behind her head. "Why does this seem so familiar?" Her last view before her eyes closed was of the meteors.

When the girl awoke a couple hours later, she sat up and looked around before stretching her arms and yawning. She then moved to lay down again when someone peered down at her and she was startled into a sitting position. The figure laughed before standing upright and the girl slowly stood up. "Gimme a break Aqua," the girl grumbled and she laughed again.

"Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead," she said in an amused manner. "You know you should have at least brought a blanket."

"But- did I dream that place up? It really felt like I'd been there before… looking up at the stars…"

"But you've always lived here with us," Aqua told her.

"Yeah… I know," Ventus replied and smiled at her. Aqua and Ventus then sat down on the edge of the cliff.

"Hey Aqua."

"Hm?" she inquired.

"You ever wonder what stars are? Where light comes from?"

"Hmm… Well they say."

"That every star up there is another world," a new voice said. Aqua and Ventus both looked over their shoulders to see someone else standing there.

"Terra."

"Yep, hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own," Terra told them.

"The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns."

"What? I don't get it," Ventus said in confusion.

"In other words, they're just like you Ven."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll find out someday. I'm sure," Terra replied.

"I wanna know now!" Ventus demanded.

"You're too young to know now."

"Quit treating me like a kid!"

Aqua watched the whole scene with amusement until she couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" Terra asked.

"I can't help it. You two would make the weirdest siblings." Ventus and Terra gave her weird looks before they started laughing as well. Then, Aqua remembered something and she got up.

"Oh yeah! Terra, you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow. I made us good luck charms." She tossed the orange charm to Terra. "Here," she said and tossed the green charm to Ventus.

"I get one too?"

"Of course, one for each of us. I even made a white one for Master Eraqus," Aqua told them and grabbed a white charm from around her neck.

"Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit… And the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it. Nothing can ever drive you apart," Aqua told them as she held out her right hand and looked at her blue charm. "You'll always find your way back to each other."

"Technically, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells. But I did the best with what I had."

"Oy, sometimes you are such a girl."

"Hey! What do you mean, sometimes?"

"So this isn't a real good luck charm?"

"Well, that remains to be seen. But I did work a little magic on it."

"Really? What?"

"An unbreakable connection," Aqua replied and raised her blue charm into the air.

"Well, tomorrow's the exam. Anyone wanna spar?"

"I can take you," Ventus retorted confidently and summoned Wayward Wind.

"Don't count me out," Aqua said and summoned Rainfell as Terra summoned Earthshaker. Ventus felt excitement swell up inside her at the thought of being able to fight both Aqua and Terra, even if they were leagues above her in terms of skill. After the three way spar began, Ventus noticed they were trying to go easy on her and she grew irritated.

"Quit going easy on me! Neither of you are going to win unless both of you stay on the offensive."

"Have it your way Ven." Aqua sent bolts of lightning at Ventus while a big chunk of earth ripped through the ground as it headed towards her. Ventus summoned a barrier to deflect the lightning and dashed out of the way before the chunk of earth could hit her.

Ventus then rushed towards Aqua while gripping Wayward Wind tightly. But Aqua sent several orbs of fire at her. Ventus nimbly dodged all of them and even sent some back at Aqua. Although some of them hit Aqua, the majority were deflected and sent in random directions before fizzling out.

Then, pillars of rock erupted from the ground and Ventus dashed around in an attempt to avoid them. But Aqua partially encased her in ice so she couldn't get away. Struggling to break free, a pillar of rock sent Ventus flying and she prepared to hit the ground hard.

Then, Ventus found herself being lifted into the cool night air by a gather spell and struggled against it until she noticed Terra smirking at her and she narrowed her eyes at him which caused Terra to laugh. The gather spell eventually vanished and Ventus slowed her fall with a gentle breeze.

Aqua and Terra were stunned when Ventus walked towards them with a weary smile on her face.

"Are you okay Ventus?" Terra asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She replied. "I'm just a bit tired from our little sparring session."

"Not bad Ven, you're improving," Aqua complimented and Ventus gave off an embarrassed smile while scratching her head sheepishly.

"Hey, we're gonna head back," Terra said and Ventus turned to look at him.

"Yeah, me too!"

Ventus paused briefly and looked up at the stars before she continued walking. As she walked back to the castle with Aqua and Terra, Ventus sensed that this would be the last night she spent beneath the same stars with them.

Master Eraqus watched from the window as they headed back inside and smiled to himself when he noticed the white charm that Aqua had in her grasp before he retired to his chambers for the night.


	2. Mark Of Mastery

The next morning, Aqua, Terra and Ventus were in the room where Terra and Aqua would be taking their Mark of Mastery exams since Ventus wasn't ready for the title of master yet. Ventus glanced at the newcomer in the far right chair and thought he looked familiar. Then, Master Eraqus walked forwards with an expression like stone and stopped.

"Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Not one but two of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidates… But this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremacy- not a test of wills, but a test of heart," Eraqus reminded them. "Both of you may prevail, or neither."

"But I am sure our guest, Master Xehanort… did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the Mark. I trust you are both ready?" he inquired.

"Yes," they said in unison.

"Then let the examination begin!" Eraqus said and summoned Master Keeper.

Balls of light appeared as Aqua and Terra readied their Keyblades. Then, Xehanort waved his hand and darkness was infused into the balls of light which caused them to go everywhere. Then, a ball of darkness started heading towards Ventus and she summoned Wayward Wind to defend herself.

"Ven!"

"Don't worry about me. You two focus on the exam."

"But Ven, you're in danger here! Go wait in your room."

"No way! I've been looking forward to this- seeing you two become Masters. I'm not gonna miss it now!"

"She can take care of herself. She's been out there training just as hard as us," Terra said.

"Yeah!"

"Stay sharp Ven!" Aqua told her and prepared to fight the corrupted balls of light. It took several minutes, but the balls of light eventually vanished. Then Eraqus held up his hand and they paused.

"That was unexpected, but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold. Which brings us to your next trial. Now, Terra and Aqua, the two of you will face each other in combat. Remember, there are no winners- only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is revealed. Begin!"

For several minutes, Aqua and Terra clashed. Then, Terra felt darkness swelling up inside him as Aqua rushed towards him. But Terra forced it away before it could escape and it was at that point when Eraqus held up his hand and they stopped.

"We have deliberated and reached a decision. Terra, Aqua, you both performed commendably and both of you kept your darkness in check. So it gives me great honor to bestow on both of you the title of Keyblade Master. Aqua and Terra, as our newest Keyblade Masters, both of you are entitled to certain knowledge. Please wait here for further intstructions."

"So, it appears my attempt to awaken his darkness has failed. No matter, I can always resort to other measures to awaken his darkness." Xehanort muttered to himself. But he paused when Terra briefly disappeared and was replaced by a teen with long silver hair and vibrant green eyes before Terra reappeared.

"That was unusual, but in that brief moment where Terra vanished, I sensed both light and darkness inside that teen."

While all this was going on, Xehanort began walking away so he didn't have to keep his guest waiting any longer and Eraqus followed shortly after him. Ventus rushed forward and smiled excitedly since both of them became Keyblade Masters.

"I knew both of you could do it, now I'll have to catch up with both of you by passing my Mark of Mastery."

"Don't get too excited Ven, your Mark of Mastery is still a long way off."

"Aqua's right," Terra said and Ventus protested as Terra messed up her hair.

Meanwhile, Xehanort walked down a staircase and found his guest waiting for him. "What do you make of Ventus?"

"She ain't gonna cut it, someone's gotta break that loser in."

"Not here you won't! I've got to keep up appearances," Xehanort warned.

"I know that, she just needs a little incentive to leave home."

Xehanort then started walking out of the castle while the figure decided to stick around a little bit longer so she could goad Ventus into leaving the Land of Departure.

After returning to her room, Ventus grabbed Terra's wooden Keyblade and started swinging it around once she lied down on her bed.

Then, Ventus was startled by some bells ringing and jumped off her bed as she prepared to exit her room when she noticed a figure out of the corner of her eye.

"Better hurry Ventus, or you'll never see Terra again."

To Ventus, it looked like the figure was female. But Ventus couldn't be sure since the figure was obscured by a bodysuit and a mask. Ventus then got confused and angered when the figure started talking about Terra.

"What? Get real! I can see Terra anytime I want."

"Like right now? He's leaving you behind. And by the time you catch up...he'll be a different person."

"Look-whoever you are-you don't know the first thing about Terra. Me and him will always be a team. You trying to pick a fight or what?"

"Oh grow up," she scoffed in disgust. "Is that what you call friendship? You'll never know the truth unless you go out and look for it yourself."

"Come on, what could you possibly know when you're stuck here? Looking at nothing but what's in your tiny world." The figure then vanished through a dark corridor and Ventus sighed heavily as she recalled some of her earliest memories of Terra.

In the first memory, Terra had just started practicing with his Keyblade while Ventus practiced with his old wooden Keyblade that Terra gave to her.

In another memory, Terra was frustrated with Ventus and crossed his arms after he finished speaking. Ventus looked down and started crying until Terra ruffled her hair to calm her down as he looked away sheepishly.

And in one last memory, Terra and Ventus were sitting down while laughing at something funny that Ventus said.

Ventus then ran out of her room in order to find Terra. Terra was just entering the courtyard outside the castle when Ventus started running down the stairs.

"Terra!" This caused Terra to pause and he looked over his shoulder to see Ventus running towards him.

"There was this masked person who appeared in my room and said that you would become a different person."

This caused Terra to gasp as a memory came to him. Terra was just about to go to sleep for the night when he heard Eraqus and Xehanort conversing. He then tiptoed across the floor to hear what they were talking about and he pressed his ear against the door.

"What did you say about Ventus?"

"Her darkness escaped and started manefesting into a masked girl so I was forced to strike down the creature her darkness spawned in order to save Ventus. But this severely damaged her heart and I figured that I should leave Ventus with you until she recovers from this. This secret must stay between us so Ventus will be spared the horror of remembering this."

In truth, this was a lie fabricated by Xehanort since he had forcibly removed the darkness Ventus had in her heart and this in turn created the masked figure. Terra then climbed back into his bed and pretended to be asleep as Eraqus peered in his room.

Back in the present, things were not adding up for Terra. Xehanort had said that he struck down the masked figure while Ventus said that the masked girl had appeared in her room a couple minutes ago. But he could dwell on that later since Aqua would be leaving soon as well.

"Relax Ven, I'm sure that Master Eraqus just used her to keep you on your guard," Terra said and his heart ached when he had to lie to Ventus to prevent her from learning the truth.

Inside, Ventus had doubts about this due to the figure reeking of darkness and Master Eraqus having an intense dislike for darkness. But she went along with it so Terra didn't think she was suspicious of what Terra said.

"Yeah, I'm probably just overthinking things," Ventus exclaimed and Terra inwardly sighed with relief. Terra then noticed Aqua and Eraqus walking towards them.

"Terra, Aqua, I have just received word from my old friend Yen Sid about mysterious creatures that he calls the Unversed. I want both of you to stay on your guard at all times should you encounter the Unversed. Also, I want both of you to keep an eye out for Master Xehanort since he has disappeared."

"You mean that Xehanort just vanished?" they asked and Eraqus nodded his head grimly.

Aqua and Terra then summoned their gliders as they were enveloped in armor for their journeys into The Lanes Between. Eraqus then turned and beckoned for Ventus to follow him. But Ventus watched until they left before summoning her armor and tossing her Keyblade into the air which caused it to turn into a glider.

Eraqus turned around and panic combined with fear swelled up inside him when he saw Ventus jump onto her glider and soar towards The Lanes Between.

"No, she mustn't. It's far too dangerous out there for her!" Eraqus didn't know who to contact to bring her back. Xehanort was nowhere to be found, Aqua and Terra had already left and Yen Sid was busy with three apprentices of his own. Eraqus sighed to himself and headed back inside the castle while making sure to keep Aqua, Terra and Ventus in his thoughts.


	3. The Lanes Between And Seven Small Men

As Ventus rode her Keyblade Glider through the vastness of The Lanes Between, she noticed Aqua and Terra riding their gliders. Feeling excited at the possibility of racing them, Ventus was about to try and catch up with them when she noticed a star in the distance. Briefly forgetting about Aqua and Terra, she changed directions and her glider soared in the direction of this star.

Several minutes passed, and Ventus noticed that the star was slowly getting bigger. Once she got a lot closer to the star, Ventus was surprised when the star turned out to be a world instead. Briefly looking in the direction of Aqua and Terra, she was disappointed when they weren't there.

"Man, I was hoping to race them," Ventus muttered to herself dejectedly before perking up at the thought of exploring this world and meeting the inhabitants.

"Oh well, I can always race them next time."

And with that, her glider soared in the direction of the world and Ventus let out an excited laugh as she entered the atmosphere of the world. As she got closer to the ground, Ventus willed her armor away and jumped off her glider as it transformed back into Wayward Wind.

As she landed on the ground, Ventus stumbled for a couple seconds due to the sudden impact but gradually regained her balance. Looking upwards, she dashed out of sight when seven little men walked across a stone pathway that towered above her. Luckily, they didn't notice her and Ventus sighed in relief as they continued walking.

"I should probably ask if they've seen Aqua or Terra pass through here."

Ventus then left her hiding spot and walked under the pathway to see where they went. As she walked along, a couple Unversed popped up but she easily dispatched them with Wayward Wind. After exiting the winding canyon, Ventus noticed a cave up ahead and figured they must be in there. After dealing with more Unversed on the way, she walked into the cave and stopped suddenly when the men looked at her and scattered.

"You're one of them no good diamond thieves, now get out of our mine you diamond thief!" one of the men accused as he ran off to hide deep in the mine.

"Wait, I just want to know if you've seen Aqua or Terra," Ventus protested.

"I haven't seen any people with those games, I meant names. Now go pray, I meant go away," another of the men told her. Unlike the other men, he wore glasses and the remaining men looked at him until he ran deeper into the mine and the other men followed him. Ventus briefly laughed as one of the men sneezed while running away before realizing something.

"The man with the glasses must be the leader," Ventus thought to herself and summoned Wayward Wind as she started chasing them deeper into the mine. The walls of the cave had gems embedded in them and they sparkled even though there wasn't much light in the cave. Ventus marveled at a blue gem, a green gem, and an orange gem and looked around to make sure the men weren't around.

She then grabbed the three gems and stuffed them into one of her pockets. "Aqua and Terra are sure to like these gems the next time I see them," Ventus said to herself and walked deeper into the cave. But she paused when she heard someone sneeze. Looking around, Ventus noticed a barrel move after someone sneezed again.

Curiosity piqued, Ventus lifted the barrel up and noticed a man looking around in confusion before noticing her and running off. "Wait! I just want to know if you've seen Aqua or Terra." This made the man pause and he turned to face her.

"Well gosh, I haven't met anybody by those names. But I did hear from our animal friends that a really tall person with brown hair was seen walking away from an old lady wearing a cloak. Perhaps you should ask her if she knew where he was heading."

"Right, thanks," Ventus said.

"Don't mention it," the man replied before sneezing again. Once she was out of the cave, Ventus continued walking until she reached the entrance to some foreboding looking woods. Shrugging her shoulders, she wandered through the woods until she noticed some trees up ahead.

As she walked under them, Ventus was unaware that one of the trees was lowering a branch towards her and it snagged on her jacket before lifting her up into the air. "What? Let me go! Put me down!" Ventus screamed. But the tree wasn't finished yet. Jerking her about, it flung her towards another tree and her jacket ripped due to a tree branch before she slid to the bottom.

But on the way down, Ventus slowed her fall with a wind spell and she took her jacket off to inspect the damage. Upon noticing several rips in the fabric, she became angry and glared up at the trees. "This jacket was a gift from Aqua, Terra, and Master Eraqus." She seethed to herself. In her anger, Ventus was unaware that ice was encasing the trees and they shivered due to how cold it was before being encased completely. Upon feeling the temperature drop, she looked around until noticing that the trees were frozen solid.

"Did I cause that to happen?" Shrugging her shoulders, Ventus walked deeper into the woods until she noticed faint sunlight up ahead and started walking towards it. Upon reaching the sunlight, she found herself in a meadow after adjusting to the sudden light. "Wow," She said when she noticed all the various flowers in the meadow.

She then spotted a figure with black hair, rosy cheeks, and fair white skin picking flowers and humming to herself. Walking up to the figure, Ventus cleared her throat and the figure turned around to face her. "Oh goodness, you shouldn't startle people like that," She scolded.

"Sorry for startling you, I was wondering if you could help fix my jacket," Ventus asked politely and the figure examined it before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, but there's not much I can do about that jacket," She replied. "But maybe I can help you find someone to fix it up for you," She offered.

"No thanks, I can always get a new one," Ventus replied and smiled sadly before starting to walk away.

"Wait! I don't believe I ever got your name."

"It's Ventus, but you can call me Ven for short."

"Nice to meet you Ven, my name is Snow White."

"Same to you, just keep an eye out for Terra or Aqua."

"Aqua? I'm afraid I don't know who that is. But Terra must be that tall gentleman with the brown hair who helped me out of those scary woods."

"Yeah, that's him alright," Ventus affirmed and waved goodbye to Snow White. Snow White returned the gesture and Ventus resumed walking until she reached a castle. Heading inside, she started looking around until she reached a chamber where a figure was pacing around angrily.

"How dare he refuse my request to bring her heart! And then he has the audacity to demand answers from me regarding the whereabouts of Xehanort." For some reason unknown to her, the name Xehanort sounded vaguely familiar to Ventus.

"Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could help fix my jacket," She asked politely. This caused the figure to focus on her and she scowled at Ventus.

"I am far too busy to help you with such a minor issue. Now leave my castle at once!

"This was a gift from my friends. Now either you fix it or we do this the hard way!" She replied and glared at the figure.

"Ah, I had a guest not too long ago and he demanded answers from me regarding some person named Xehanort. If I recall correctly, he was rather tall and he had brown hair."

"What? Get real! Terra would never do such a thing."

"But I speak the truth. Now if you want me to fix your jacket, then quit glaring at me." Ventus was reluctant at first, but eventually complied and her glare vanished. She then handed her jacket to the figure and it was placed on a rather primitive looking table. The figure then waved her hands over it and the ripped fabric was mended.

"Thank you for fixing my jacket." The figure merely scoffed at this.

"Don't think that I owe you any other favors. I only repaired it so you would leave me alone. Now leave!" She thundered and Ventus jumped in terror. Nodding mutely, Ventus hurried outside where a mysterious figure in a black coat was waiting for her.

"So it's true. You are one of the seven destined to recreate it."

"Who are you?" Ventus demanded.

"It is not a matter of who I am, but of who I will become."

"I don't care about that, now stop being cryptic!"

"You do not yet know what your ultimate purpose is. Aqua and Terra are on the way to fulfilling their purposes and you should follow suit." It took a lot to make Ventus angry, but the way this figure was talking about her friends didn't sit well with Ventus.

A torrent of emotions was surging around inside Ventus and they grew in intensity until Ventus couldn't hold it in anymore and she screamed in anger, which rarely happened since Ventus didn't get angry often. It was at this point that the figure vanished through a corridor overflowing with darkness and she glared at the corridor until it vanished.

Taking a couple deep breaths, Ventus calmed down and summoned her armor for her journey to the next world. Jumping onto her Keyblade Glider, Ventus headed into The Lanes Between to continue her search for Aqua and Terra.


	4. Dominion Of Dreams

As Ventus rode her Keyblade Glider through The Lanes Between, her mind kept drifting back to the mysterious figure and what he said. "You are one of the seven destined to recreate it, what does he mean by that?" Ventus asked herself in confusion. "He was probably just trying to get to me," Ventus told herself in an attempt to calm her nerves.

But a sense of foreboding swelled up inside Ventus as she mused the words of the mysterious figure over and over again. "It is not a matter of who I am, but of who I will become." The words echoed in her mind over and over again like a broken record. Before Ventus could reflect on it further, she noticed a star in the distance and raced towards it.

After a couple minutes, the star turned out to actually be another world and Ventus soared towards it. "Maybe I should ask if anyone here has seen Aqua or Terra," Ventus said to herself as she entered the atmosphere of this new world. While she was steadily soaring towards the ground, Ventus noticed that something peculiar was happening.

Her armor slowly shrank until Ventus could no longer endure the pain it caused as it slowly squeezed her and she pressed her pauldron to will her armor away. But this caused her Keyblade Glider to also vanish and Ventus gasped in surprise as she fell towards the ground below. Thinking quickly, she used wind magic to slow her fall and prevent her from being seriously injured.

As she made it safely to the ground, Ventus looked around and noticed that everything seemed to tower over her. Even the nearby bench seemed like a mountain to her. "What's going on?" After asking this, Ventus reeled in shock when she noticed her voice was several times higher than normal. "Great, now my voice is super high pitched. Aqua and Terra will never let me live this down when they find out about this," Ventus grumbled in annoyance.

She then started walking towards a house that was even more titanic than usual given her diminutive size. Luckily, the door was ajar and she crept silently into the house. "Well, there is one advantage to being this small. People aren't as likely to notice me so I can evade detection a lot easier. Although I do wish I could go back to my regular size."

But before she could say anything else, a pair of hands scooped her up and Ventus found herself looking at an older woman with a face fixed in a cruel sneer. "What do we have here? Looks like we have an unwanted guest who doesn't know to not snoop around people's houses. You should be humbled by my mere presence, for you have the rare honor of being sent away by Lady Tremaine herself."

"Anastasia! Drizella! Come down here at once! I have someone I want you to meet."

"Coming mother," Two voices chorused and the staircase shook as they descended the steps. But Ventus muttered something under her breath and Lady Tremaine was forced to drop her as her hand grew icy cold. Ventus then ran towards a mouse hole and Lady Tremaine narrowed her eyes as she watched Ventus disappear. Anastasia and Drizella then descended the stairs.

"Where's the visitor?" Anastasia asked haughtily.

"I bet it was the prince asking for my hand in marriage," Drizella retorted and this caused Anastasia to scoff.

"You? Why would he want to marry someone who has the face of a toad?"

"At least I don't have ginormous feet like you," Drizella countered. But Lady Tremaine stepped in before their bickering could get any worse. Thumping the floor with her cane, the noise drew their attention and they fell silent once they noticed Lady Tremaine gazing at them sternly.

"That's enough you two, the visitor I was referring to was not the prince. I caught someone trying to sneak into this place, but I quickly noticed them and I would have gotten rid of them had they not gotten away. If I'm right about this, the visitor is making her way to Cinderella's room as we speak. I want one of you to send my dear cat Lucifer to stop her once she reaches the mouse hole leading to Cinderella's room."

"As you wish mother," they both replied and hurried up the stairs. After reaching the mouse hole, Ventus paused to catch her breath when a mouse wearing red clothes walked up to her.

"Juk Juk, I never see you before. You must be new mouse. My name Jaq. Come, I take you to Cinderelly. Watch out for Roos-A-Fee! Black cat, green eyes. Very mean and sneaky."

"Roos-A-Fee?" Even though she just met Jaq, he talked rapidly and her head started spinning. Shrugging her shoulders, Ventus reluctantly followed Jaq throughout the eaves of the house and she encountered several minuscule Unversed as they made their way to Cinderella's room. By the time they reached Cinderella's room, Ventus was exhausted from battling all those Unversed and the journey to Cinderella's room wasn't helping.

They exited the mouse hole and noticed several assorted buttons and fabric strewn about the room. "Oh! Hello Jaq, I see you brought another mouse friend." Cinderella then knelt down and placed Ventus in her hand. "Excuse my manners! I don't believe I ever asked your name.

"It's Ventus, but you can just call me Ven for short. And I'm not a mouse!" Upon looking at Ventus closely, Cinderella realized her mistake.

"Oh goodness me! I'm so sorry Ven, I though you were a mouse. But you're actually another human like me."

"It's okay," Ventus replied. "You just thought I was a mouse, no harm done."

"Juk Juk, come on VenVen. We help finish Cinderelly's dress for the big ball.

"Ball?" Ventus inquired and regretted it when Cinderella sighed sadly.

"Yeah, it's always been a dream of mine to attend the ball. But my dress is nowhere near finished. And even if it was, I doubt I'd be able to go with all these chores around here that I have to do. Courtesy of my stepsisters and my stepmother."

Ventus was confused at first, but became angry when she realized something. "How dare they! They saddle her with all the chores to prevent her from going to the ball and she doesn't speak up against them," Ventus fumed to herself. An idea then formed in Ven's head and she looked at Cinderella with a determined glint in her eyes.

"Come on Cinderella! We're going to finish that dress if It's the last thing I do!" Cinderella was surprised by Ven's determination, but she nodded in affirmation and started to gather the necessary fabric for the dress. Ventus helped as best she could, but her diminutive size limited what she was able to do. After a lot of work and several close calls, Ventus smiled in pride at the finished dress and Cinderella was stunned by the final result.

"It's very beautiful Ven, thanks for pitching in to help finish it."

"You're welcome Cinderella, I'm glad I could help," Ventus replied and smiled at her. "Let's get out of here before they come up here and find out about this."

Before Cinderella could respond, a chorus of voices was heard and she hurriedly covered up the dress. "Ven, you take Jaq to the mouse hole and hide," she whispered urgently. The two of them nodded and hurried towards the mouse hole so they wouldn't be spotted. The door opened and Lady Tremaine stepped inside with Anastasia and Drizella trailing behind her.

"Cinderella, why are you not working on your chores?" Lady Tremaine demanded. But before she could answer, Drizella noticed some fabric underneath the cloth covering up the dress.

"Mother! What's under that cloth?" Drizella demanded angrily.

"Oh, that's just some of my extra chore clothes," Cinderella replied. Lady Tremaine narrowed her eyes in suspicion at this but said nothing.

"Well then, I'll leave you to your chores," Anastasia mocked. "Drizella! Let's go see if we can find Lucifer." And with that, the two of them left the room. Lady Tremaine merely looked at Cinderella in a suspicious manner before following her daughters out of the room. Once they were gone, Ventus, Jaq and Cinderella sighed in relief.

"That was close," Ventus replied wearily.

"You're right Ven, I'm glad they didn't find out about the dress."

"Oh! That reminds me, shouldn't you start getting ready for the ball? I can always help you get out of here so you can attend." Cinderella looked uncertain at first, but eventually nodded and put the dress on. Then, something surprising happened and Cinderella watched in shock as Ventus returned to her normal size.

"Oh goodness me. You certainly are tall for your age," Cinderella noted and Ventus scratched her head sheepishly. All of a sudden, Cinderella looked flustered about something and looked at Ventus. "This will never do, It just wouldn't be fair. Since you were such a big help in making my dress, you have to go to the ball!"

Ventus was about to stammer in refusal, but the look on Cinderella's face told her that she wouldn't take no for an answer and Ventus reluctantly agreed. "I'm so glad you agreed to attend the ball, but I don't have enough fabric to make another dress."

"Now now Cinderella dear. Don't you worry about that, I'll just fix that problem right now," a new voice said and a ball of light floated through the window. The ball of light then became a woman wearing a cloak and the woman looked at Ventus. "You must be Ventus, I've heard so much about you from your friend Terra. I am Cinderella's Fairy Godmother." She then raised her wand and uttered a rather simple phrase. "Bippity Boppity Boo."

Her wand glowed with ethereal light and it enveloped Ventus as her clothes were replaced by an extravagant dress adorned with the three gems she acquired from the mine. Her hair magically rearranged itself and it reached down to her shoulders. A tiara appeared in her hair and gloves that went up to her shoulders appeared as if by magic. "What? This is a bit much, don't you think?"

"Nonsense dear, now let us be off. For the ball awaits!" She then raised her wand once more and it turned the three of them into glowing balls of light as they headed towards the palace to attend the ball. After a while, the three of them arrived at the palace and the two of them walked through the doors as Cinderella's Fairy Godmother watched from a distance before vanishing.

As Ventus and Cinderella made it inside the palace, they marveled at the huge interior and slowly walked forwards when they were stopped by some important looking people. "You're just in time for the ball and the prince should be making his appearance soon," one of them said.

Then, multiple trumpets started blaring to signify the arrival of the prince. The doors creaked open and the prince stepped through with several guards surrounding him. "Long live the prince!" The loudness of the guards caused Ventus to cover her ears briefly until they fell silent.

"Long live the prince!" The crowd chorused in unison. The prince then walked forward while being flanked by his guards and examined the crowd closely before taking notice of Ventus and Cinderella. Upon noticing that Ventus was looking around in disinterest, he decided that she would suit his younger brother better.

But one look at Cinderella and he finally felt that she was the one for him instead of all those women that his father tried to have him marry. Walking over to the two of them, he cleared his throat and they looked at him. "Good evening, I am Prince Charming. To what do I owe the honor for two visions of loveliness like yourselves?"

Their reactions were immediate and occurred at the same time. Both Ventus and Cinderella blushed in embarrassment and Prince Charming let out a sincere laugh as a result of this. "Pardon my manners, I don't believe that I asked either of your names."

"I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven for short."

"My name is Cinderella," she replied simply.

"Okay. Ven, I've got someone I'd like you to meet," he said and called out for his brother. After a couple seconds, his brother arrived and gazed up at Prince Charming. "Brother, I would like for you to meet Ventus." This drew his attention away from Prince Charming and he looked at Ventus. In Ven's opinion, he didn't look much older than herself.

Then, something unusual happened and Ventus felt an unusual feeling stirring up inside her every time she glanced at him. "Is it possible that I like this person even though I've barely met them?" Ventus thought to herself. But he was also having similar thoughts about Ventus.

"Good evening Ventus, my name is Dulor. As you probably already know, I am the brother of Prince Charming." To Ven's surprise, he spoke with a polite British accent and grabbed her by the hand before kissing it and Ventus blushed again. The trumpets blared again and Prince Charming held his hand up for silence.

"As all of you are aware, the fifteenth annual ball is upon us. So without further ado, let the ball begin!" One by one, men and women started doing a formal dance with each other until just Ventus and Cinderella remained. Then, to her surprise, Dulor walked towards her and held out his hand.

"Now we must display proper etiquette and begin dancing," Dulor told Ventus. After a couple seconds of hesitation, Ventus gripped Dulor's hand and started to follow his lead when Dulor chastised her. "The men never lead first, the woman starts and the man follows her lead."

"Uh, okay," Ventus replied and started to lead. But what Dulor didn't expect was Ventus was a terrible dancer. Dulor was all for etiquette and prestige as much as the next person, but good manners could only take him so far before his patience wore thin. Before he could chastise her further, the clock chimed twelve to signify the end of the ball.

"As much as I loathe the idea of seeing you depart, the ball has come to an end and this means that the palace is closed to anyone not of noble blood." Ventus was no airhead, she knew that Dulor was trying to spare her feelings. But she had seen the other couples giving her looks of pity out of the corner of her eye.

"Thanks for trying to spare my feelings Dulor, but I know that I'm a terrible dancer." On the outside, Dulor seemed surprised by what she said. But internally, he admired the fact that Ventus knew when she wasn't good at something. Ventus then started walking towards the doors but stopped suddenly when Dulor called out to her.

"Please wait, don't leave just yet." Ventus turned around and he walked towards her. "A parting gift for a vision of loveliness like you." Dulor then kissed her again. But to her surprise, it wasn't on the hand this time. After having Ventus close her eyes, he kissed her on the lips.

Ventus was surprised by this at first, but eventually returned the gesture. Now it was Dulor's turn to be surprised. From a distance, Cinderella and Prince Charming watched as Dulor and Ventus awkwardly avoided each other's gazes for a while. The two of them were blushing heavily and it went on for a while until they gazed at each other again.

"So, I suppose this is where we part ways?" Dulor inquired. His spirits sank when Ventus nodded and she gazed at him sadly.

"I have to go find my friends Aqua and Terra." Dulor didn't want her to go, but he was a gentleman and he reluctantly sent her off with a final kiss on the hand.

Several hours after Ventus returned to her normal height, she pushed the doors open before waving goodbye to Cinderella, Prince Charming and Dulor. Once they returned the gesture, Ventus walked through the doors and summoned her Keyblade Glider. She then soared towards The Lanes Between once more to continue looking for Aqua and Terra.


	5. Search For The Missing Heart

As Ventus soared through The Lanes Between, her mind drifted back to Dulor and she found herself blushing. "Do I really like Dulor or was I just caught up in the moment?" As she pondered this over, she contemplated turning around and going back to ask him. But Ventus decided that she would return later after she found Aqua and Terra.

She then thought about the way her dress magically vanished and what the Fairy Godmother said as she was leaving. "I sent your dress to your home world so it would be safe." Ventus then noticed a world in the distance and she pushed her glider to go faster. After a couple minutes, the world became a lot bigger and Ventus entered the atmosphere of this new world.

Once Ventus landed on the ground, she immediately felt that something was wrong. Even in the other worlds she'd been to, there had at least been some humans there. But this world seemed devoid of life. Ventus then noticed the giant castle in the distance and started walking towards it. It took several minutes, but she reached the castle and pushed the doors open.

As Ventus wandered around the castle, she was feeling discouraged since Aqua and Terra didn't seem to be here. "Still no sign of Aqua or Terra," Ventus thought to herself. She then took notice of a pair of doors and pushed them open. Stepping inside, she looked around until she noticed a young woman sleeping in a bed.

Tiptoeing towards her so as to not wake her up, Ventus started looking at her intently when she heard a voice behind her. "Stop! You get away from her!" Turning around in surprise, Ventus noticed three fairies pointing their wands at her.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry. It's just, I haven't been around that many people who look this beautiful," Ventus replied as she thought about Aqua. Although the three fairies were still wary of Ventus, they lowered their wands and the fairy dressed in red flew towards her.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven."

"Oh! Excuse our manners. I'm Flora," the fairy dressed in red told her.

"I'm Fauna," the green clothed fairy said.

"And I'm Merryweather," the blue clothed fairy replied.

"It's odd, but you don't seem bad dear. I'm certain you have a pure heart, just like our precious Aurora."

"Can you tell me why she's sleeping?" Ventus inquired. But upon noticing their sad expressions, she wished that she hadn't said anything.

"Long ago, Maleficent cursed her. Now she's stolen her heart." An idea then came to Ventus and she mulled it over for a couple seconds.

"Hm, why don't I get her heart back?" Ventus suggested. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather were shocked by the fact that she would willingly embark on such a dangerous mission, but they didn't show it.

"That's impossible dear. Maleficent's home is at the Forbidden Mountain, It's not safe." But Ventus wasn't one to give up so easily.

"I'm not afraid, we can't just leave Aurora like this. I can help, you gotta believe me. Come on, let's go get her heart!"

"You know, you're absolutely right. The Forbidden Mountain is through the forest. Come along and follow us, we'll show you the way. After all, we wouldn't want you to get lost," Flora told her. Ventus nodded and started following them out of the castle. Along the way, several hordes of Unversed popped up, but Ventus and the three fairies easily dealt with them.

After several minutes, they finally exited the castle and arrived at the bridge that lead to it. As they slowly headed towards the Forbidden Mountain, several more Unversed showed up to impede their progress and it was starting to irritate Ventus. "Seriously? Where are all these Unversed coming from?"

Once they had left the castle behind, they entered a clearing close to a forest. After walking for a while, the four of them arrived at a giant wall of green flames that crackled and occasionally shot off sparks. "Well, looks like we're stuck. That's just great," Ventus muttered to herself. Luckily, the three fairies didn't hear what she said.

"This must be Maleficent's doing," Flora mused.

"I know!" Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather then waved their wands and their combined power caused the green flames to fizzle away. Now that the path was clear, the quartet resumed walking towards the Forbidden Mountain to continue their dangerous mission and retrieve Aurora's heart.

After making it through the forest, Ventus and the three fairies started ascending the steep mountain path. As they drew closer to Maleficent's castle, she started to get exhausted from the steep climb. Once they made it inside the castle, Ventus paused to catch her breath and the three fairies looked at her in concern. "Are you okay dear?" Flora asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed to catch my breath for a couple seconds," she replied. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather looked skeptical about this, but they continued walking through the massive interior of the castle until they reached a chamber blocked by thorns.

"Oh dear, looks like Maleficent knew that we were coming." Ventus said nothing and instead started hacking away at the thorns with her Keyblade. When that didn't work, she tried fire magic on them and the thorns started to wither until they were incinerated. Ventus started leaning on the wall for support and the three fairies looked at her in concern.

"Oh my, you don't look well at all dear. Let us fix you right up." Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather focused their power into a healing spell and sent it towards Ventus. Almost instantly, she felt her strength returning and Ventus no longer had to lean on the wall for support.

"Thank you, I feel a lot better."

"It's no problem whatsoever, now shall we go free Aurora's heart?" Merryweather asked. Ventus, Flora, and Fauna nodded at her and the four of them entered the chamber before stopping suddenly. Every inch of the chamber was being patrolled by guards that wore armor and they had weapons ranging from maces to swords and clubs to bows.

"Be careful Ven, those are Maleficent's goons," Fauna warned.

Then, the guards all took notice of them and rushed towards the four of them while holding their weapons tightly. Summoning Wayward Wind, Ventus made a barrier appear and they all collided with it. Before they could react, she made the barrier vanish and started slashing at them. Dodging a mace swing from one, she slashed at it and it turned into green flames.

But no matter how many she defeated, more arrived to take their place until the chamber was nearly filled with them. Slashing one across the snout, it squealed in pain as it dissolved into green flames. Then, the guards started to overpower the four of them until a voice echoed throughout the chamber. "Enough! I shall deal with these persistent intruders myself."

This was the cue for all of them to back off and they vanished through multiple corridors that lied beyond the chamber. "I don't know who you are, but give Aurora her heart back!" Ventus demanded.

"Why I am Maleficent, and you must be Ventus. Ah, that weapon you hold. A Keyblade, is it not? Nontheless, I cannot give Aurora her heart back. When seven pure hearts are brought together, the final Keyhole will be completed. I have reason to believe that Aurora is one of those seven pure hearts that Xehanort told me of."

"How do you know my name? And how do you know about the Keyblade?"

"Why, Xehanort told me everything I could possibly need to know. He told me of the Princesses of Heart, of the Keyblade War, and that's not all he told me about. He also told me about the Keyblade, how to unlock people's hearts, and he told me all about the X-Blade. Finally, he told me about the Foretellers and the Unions. Before she could go any further, a voice interrupted her.

"Ven! Don't listen to her. There's no way Xehanort could know about all that."

"Ah, but I merely speak the truth Aqua. I know about you two and Terra through Xehanort. Now that I've told you all I know, begone from my dominion!"

"I don't think so," Ventus countered and lunged at Maleficent. But she vanished through some green flames and Ventus took this opportunity to aim her Keyblade at Aurora's heart. A beam of light shot out of the tip and it connected with Aurora's heart. The green flames surrounding the heart vanished and it exited the castle in order to return to its rightful owner.

"No!" Now Maleficent was livid. "That heart belongs to me! You meddlesome Keybearers always get in the way. And I shall unleash upon you, all the powers of Hell!" Maleficent then summoned a wall of green flames so they couldn't get away. Ventus, Aqua, and the three fairies knew they would be in for a tough fight, so they readied themselves and started fighting Maleficent.

"Meteors of heaven, unleash thy fury!" Everyone was forced to scatter as several large meteors slowly headed towards them. The entire chamber shook from the impact of the meteors and everyone found it hard to keep balance.

After several tense minutes, Maleficent was defeated by the Keybearers and the three fairies. "You have not seen the last of me, I will have Aurora's heart if it takes me ten years," she warned. A flash of green then sprouted up around her. Swallowing the tail of her shadowy robes and stretching all the way up to the tips of her horns. With her whole body consumed, the flames then shivered, swayed, and fizzled away. Leaving nothing except more garish tiles in their place.

Once Maleficent was gone, Ventus turned to look at Aqua. "Ven, Master Eraqus sent me. He wants me to bring you home."

"I can't go home Aqua, not yet anyway. I've stil got to find Terra," she replied.

"Terra and I were tasked with finding Master Xehanort and keeping an eye out for the Unversed. Ven, I'm going to say this as politely as I can. Go home to the Land of Departure. The Lanes Between aren't safe for someone inexperienced like you." Aqua didn't realize it yet, but she had just hurt Ven's feelings.

"I'm inexperienced? I don't know what I'm doing? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" Aqua visibly winced at this.

"I didn't mean it like that Ven."

"Then how did you mean it?"

"It's just, I just don't want to see you get hurt. Okay."

"But Aqua, I've discovered so many new things over my journey to the various worlds. I've even made new friends. I may have even found someone that I really like."

"I'm going to say this one last time Ven, go home."

"No Aqua, just because I'm not strong like Terra or gifted with magic like you doesn't mean that I'm completely useless." Hurt by her words, Ventus then stormed off and Aqua merely stared at her retreating figure in shock.

"I'm so sorry Ven, I didn't mean to upset you. I just want you to stay safe," Aqua said to herself.

As Ventus summoned her Keyblade Armor, she looked up at the sky and a few tears fell from her eyes. "Aqua, what's happening to you?" Ventus then jumped on her Keyblade Glider and left to go find Terra.


	6. Barren Battleground

As Ventus travelled through The Lanes Between, anger was still coursing around inside her as a result of what Aqua said. She reflected on it for a couple minutes and tried to keep from letting her anger get the better of her. "I'm not useless, I'm not!" Ventus muttered to herself. Then, she noticed a new world up ahead and headed towards it.

As she looked at the landscape below her, she was surprised at how barren it looked and shivered in unease upon noticing miles upon miles of Keyblades embedded in the ground far to the east. As Ventus slowly got closer to the ground below, she made her armor vanish by pressing her pauldron and started diving towards the ground below.

A couple feet away from hitting the ground hard, she slowed her fall with a gentle breeze and landed on the ground safely. Finally on the ground again, Ventus noticed the masked figure up ahead and she wanted answers. "All right! What did you mean about Terra being a different person?" The figure merely scoffed and started walking forwards before stopping suddenly.

"Exactly what I said idiot. The Terra you know will be gone forever."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"Stupid. Or true." The figure then stretched out her hand. After a couple seconds, a Keyblade appeared in her grip.

"A Keyblade?" Ventus looked at the figure in surprise and glared at her. She then summoned Wayward Wind and held it backwards in a battle stance.

"Good. Let's see what you're made of," the figure said coldly and moved her Keyblade into a battle stance as well. Ventus ran towards the figure and tried to slash at her, but the figure vanished before reappearing behind Ventus and slashing across her back. Ventus winced in pain, but she whirled around and launched a fire spell at the masked figure.

The spell hit the masked figure and she growled as it left burn marks on her suit. While the figure was distracted, Ventus quickly healed herself with a cure spell and summoned a gather spell. The figure was lifted into the air and she thrashed against the spell. Ventus took the chance to slash at her several times but backed off once the gather spell vanished.

Now the masked figure was angry. "Playtime's over," she snarled at Ventus and rushed towards her. Ventus brought up her Keyblade to block. But the figure was determined to break through her defenses. She quickly noticed that while the figure lacked brute strength behind her blows like Terra, she made up for it with agility and aggressively attacking several times in a row.

While she was thinking about this, the figure disarmed Ventus and sent her flying with a swing of her Keyblade. Ventus gasped in surprise and groaned in pain as she collided with the hard dirt. Then, Ventus felt something inside her crack and she fell unconscious from the pain. The figure scoffed at this and walked forwards. "That really all you got?" She sneered.

"Man, you are worthless. I'd be going against the master's orders, but so what? As far as I'm concerned, your job here is done." The figure then began charging a sphere of purple energy and launched it at Ventus. But a nearby spectator narrowed his eyes and protected Ventus with a barrier. Taking advantage of the purple flames, he moved her away from the masked figure.

As the masked figure watched, the purple flames vanished to reveal a circle of scorched earth. "Don't worry! You're safe," a new voice said. She turned to see a humanoid mouse summon a Keyblade and she growled under her breath. "Heal!" Ventus was enveloped in a green glow that healed any injuries she sustained. The mouse then turned around and glared at her.

"Tell me where you got that!" he demanded. When the figure didn't respond, he spoke again. "Keyblades are not something you use just to bully somebody around! Here, I'll show ya!"

"We both will!" The mouse turned to see who spoke and was surprised to see Ventus slowly getting up. The two of them glared at the masked figure and held their Keyblades in battle stances.

"So, you two weaklings think you can defeat me? What a joke." The two of them rushed towards her and she tried to slash at both of them. But Ventus parried with Wayward Wind and partially froze her with an ice spell. While the masked figure hacked away at the ice with her Keyblade, the mouse sent light magic at her.

Since she was a creature of the darkness, the light hurt her. Once she was free of the ice, she countered with several balls of dark energy and they connected with the two of them. The darkness based attack battered both of them. But they weren't down for the count yet. The mouse sent thunder magic at her and she was briefly paralyzed by it.

While her muscles were locked up, Ventus slashed at her several times until she knocked the figure onto her back. Lying still for several minutes, she jumped up suddenly and glared at the two of them from behind her mask. This caused them to grip their Keyblades in warning. "Hmph, you win."

She then summoned a Corridor of Darkness and started walking toward it, but paused suddenly and looked at the two of them over her shoulder. "Consider yourself on probation," she told Ventus in a warning manner. "And I have a warning for the mouse. This is between me and Ventus; don't get involved again if you value your pitiful life."

She then vanished through the dark corridor. Once she was gone, they sent their Keyblades away and the two of them looked at each other. "Gosh, I never introduced myself. I'm Mickey, what's your name?" He inquired.

"I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven for short. I see you can wield a Keyblade," she noted.

"Yep! I'm one of Yen Sid's three apprentices. He found out the worlds are in trouble, and I sort of went off without telling him."

"So who are the other two apprentices?"

Well gosh. Besides me, there's Oswald and Mortimer. They're both decent enough, but Mortimer can be a bit arrogant at times."

"That makes two of us. I sort of ran off too."

"All I have to do is think about it, and the Star Shard will take me where I want to go. At least I thought it would, I haven't gotten all the fine points down yet. Like when or where. It sort of just kicks in at random times. But I never would have met you if it hadn't taken me here. You know, it might have not been an accident. Maybe it has to react to something to start working."

Then, a blinding light erupted from the Star Shard and both of them were forced to close their eyes. When the light cleared, Ventus found herself in The Lanes Between all alone. "Mickey? Mickey?" Looking around in confusion, she didn't see any signs of him. "Huh, I guess he must have been sent to some other world."

Ventus then noticed a world right in front of her and she rode her Keyblade Glider towards it.


	7. The City Of Light

As Ventus arrived at this unfamiliar world, she marveled at the radiance this city gave off through her visor. After landing on the ground, she made her Keyblade Armor vanish by pressing her pauldron. After walking along for a while, Ventus found herself in a courtyard and started looking around. She then noticed a elderly looking duck walking towards her.

"You must not be from this world. You dinna have to worry, yer secret's safe with me or my name isn't Scrooge McDuck. Here's some lifetime passes to Disney Town. Enough for you and two grown ups. Well, hope you have a good day lass. Maybe I'll see you around again." With that, he began walking away and was soon gone.

Ventus then walked towards an alley and found an elderly looking man garbed in blue fending off some Unversed. "Be off you fiends!" Ventus then ran towards him while gripping Wayward Wind tightly.

"Mister, the Unversed are dangerous. It's not safe out here."

"I'll have you know that I'm more than capable of fending these creatures off. After all, I am Merlin the wizard! I learned everything I know from Yen Sid."

"Okay Merlin, should we defeat these Unversed together?"

"Nonsense dear, I will not take the chance of having these monsters seriously hurt you!" But Ventus was undeterred and sent orbs of light flying at the Unversed and they disappated in wisps of black smoke as they returned to their source. "Well, you certainly are skilled with Light Magic," Merlin commented once the Unversed had been defeated.

Ventus merely shrugged this off. "I've had a lot of practice and I've been training for a long time."

"Well, thanks for helping me, but I don't believe I ever got your name."

"My name's Ventus, but you can call me Ven for short."

As much as I'd like to stay and chat some more, I have to consult my owl Archimedes about something. Just keep an eye out for Madame Mim since she doesn't play fair." Ventus waved goodbye to Merlin and he vanished in a puff of blue smoke.

Turning around, she thought she saw a familiar looking figure walking towards an unknown destination. "Mickey?" She then started following him to see where he was going. Ventus started walking along a path adorned with trees and stopped to think about something. "That's odd, I haven't encountered any Unversed yet. Maybe this city is too bright for their liking."

But she was quickly proven wrong when a giant mechanical head started floating towards a distant castle. "Was that an Unversed?" Feeling confused, Ventus started to relentlessly pursue the mechanical head. But stopped when it disappeared suddenly. Then, she heard some people shouting and thought it was coming from the castle.

Seeing no other choice, she ran up the staircase and found three people trying to fend off the mechanical head. One of them was Terra, but she didn't know who the other two people were. Gripping her Keyblade tightly, she prepared to throw it at the Unversed. But before she could, massive chunks of ice soared over her head as they were sent flying at the Unversed.

She then heard a rapid flurry of footsteps approaching from behind her and a voice cried out. "Ven!"

"Aqua?"

"There's no time for greetings Ven, Terra and those two men need our help with that Unversed." Turning her head to look at Aqua, she nodded once and the two of them rushed towards the battle.

"I could use some help right now Aeleus," a man with a gruff British accent said as he tried to get through the armor with his lance.

"I'm trying my best Dilan, but I've never encountered a monster that shrugged off all our attacks like they were nothing."

"Save the arguing for later. Right now, this Unversed poses a risk to the civilians. We have to defeat it," Terra retorted as he slashed at it with Earthshaker.

"He's right, we must ensure the safety of the inhabitants."

With renewed vigor, Aeleus and Dilan resumed attacking the Unversed before them. But Terra was briefly distracted when two familiar figures started running towards them. "Aqua? Ven? What are both of you doing here?"

"We came to help," Aqua replied as she cartwheeled out of the way when the Unversed dived at her. Then, multiple whirring sounds were heard as several mechanical parts floated towards the Unversed and became a part of it. Aeleus, Dilan, Aqua, Terra, and Ventus stared in shock at the Unversed before them.

Then, a high pitched scream was heard and a couple basic Unversed scampered up the staircase and a red haired girl was struggling to get away from them. The Unversed then let go of the girl and she glanced fearfully around before noticing the massive armored Unversed and started screaming again. But Wayward Wind soared over her head and sliced them to pieces.

But before they could do anything else, the armored Unversed narrowed its red eyes and the girl whimpered in fear as it extended an armored hand towards her. Grabbing Rainfell out of fear, she started shaking violently. "No you don't!" Ventus then slashed at it and this drew its attention away from her.

"Aeleus, let's get that child away from here so the monster can't hurt her."

Aeleus nodded at Dilan and the two of them ushered the girl inside. Now that the girl was safe, the three of them could attack at full force. Focusing their energy into their strongest attacks, Aqua summoned massive chunks of ice that punctured its armor. Terra followed up by trapping it with massive pillars of earth and it thrashed around in an attempt to get free.

Ventus then closed her eyes and called out to her light. A faint glow enveloped her Keyblade and her movements gradually became more agile than they were before. Dashing in and out of the pillars, she slashed at it repeatedly and followed up by sending several pillars of light at it. The Unversed could take no more and it dissolved into wisps of darkness.

The three of them then sat down on the steps leading to the castle.

"Glad that's over with," Terra remarked wearily.

"So am I."

"Me too." The three of them then fell silent as they paused to catch their breath. "Oh yeah! I got you these tickets."

"For what," Terra inquired.

"Lifetime passes to Disney Town," Ventus replied. She then pulled out three passes and looked at them. "He said to take two grown ups."

"You mean us?" Aqua and Terra then laughed for a couple seconds before falling silent again.

"Listen to me Ven… We need to get you home."

"It's okay Aqua. Trust me, that girl in the mask is history. She'll never bad-mouth Terra again." Terra was stunned by this and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You saw the girl in the mask?" Terra demanded.

"Uh, yes?" Ventus replied nervously.

"Vanitas," Terra growled under his breath.

"Ven, you let Aqua take you home."

"No way. I want to go with you guys."

"You can't. Master Eraqus tasked us with tracking the Unversed and finding Master Xehanort. I don't want you to get hurt." She didn't mind it at first, but Ventus was starting to get tired of Aqua and Terra underestimating her. Tears of frustration then started falling from her eyes.

"Why do the two of you always treat me like I'm not capable of defending myself? I'm getting tired of it. I didn't put up with it during the Mark of Mastery, and I'm not putting up with it here!" Now Terra was fed up with the way Ventus was acting.

"Fine, you want to be a grown up and do your own thing? Go then! But don't expect me to bail you out the next time you get in trouble. And you," he growled as he turned to face Aqua. "Your face gave you away. You think I'm unworthy of the Mark of Mastery? You think I'm obsessed with the darkness?" The look on Aqua's face told him all he needed to know.

"I hope you're happy Ventus. You want to be treated like an adult? You got your wish." Ventus wanted the two of them to stop treating her like she was defenseless, but this wasn't how she wanted it to happen. Feeling like their friendship had an irreparable rift, Terra went one way, and Ventus went another way. Aqua wasn't sure what to do since both her friends had left on sour notes.

"Terra, Ventus, will we ever make up and be friends again?" The words that Terra said stung badly, but seeing the two of them go at each other stung even worse. Without warning, tears started falling from her eyes and she cried silently to herself. Feeling like there was nothing else to do in this world, Aqua pressed her pauldron and left to roam The Lanes Between.

In another part of the world, Terra immensely regretted what he said to Ventus and Aqua. "I shouldn't have said what I did to them," he said while walking around sadly. Terra then headed towards The Lanes Between to continue searching for Master Xehanort.

Meanwhile, Ventus was sitting on a ledge far away from the castle. "Aqua, Terra, I should have realized that the two of you were trying to make sure nothing bad happened to me." Ventus then started crying to herself for a bit when she heard some voices behind her.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked. Turning around in surprise, Ventus was caught off guard when two teens around her age were looking at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had an argument with my friends a little while ago."

"That sounds rough. I know I couldn't ever imagine not being friends with Isa here," he replied and started twirling his frisbees around. "How about a spar?"

"Uh, sure?"

"She doesn't sound like she's up to it right now Lea, let's go."

"Oh come on, a spar is certain to cheer her up. So how about it? If me and Isa win, then you have to buy us some sea salt ice cream."

"I'd much rather prefer it if you didn't get me involved whenever you challenge someone to a spar," Isa retorted. But his tone suggested that he was more amused than annoyed.

"Okay, you two want to lose so badly? I'm game," Ventus told them confidently and grabbed Terra's old wooden Keyblade.

"You still play with a toy Keyblade? That's cute. And the first rule of any spar is to not underestimate your opponents. Get it memorized."

"Unlike Lea here, I'm no pushover," Isa warned as he grabbed a wooden Claymore.

"If that's the case, then show me what you've got." Feeling emboldened by her words, Lea lit one of his frisbees on fire and threw it at Ventus. But she nimbly dodged and it clattered harmlessly to the ground as the embers fizzled out. While she was distracted, his second frisbee hit her in the side and she yelped in pain.

Isa followed up by swinging his Claymore at her, but she brought up her wooden Keyblade to dodge it. But the force of the blow caused a crack to form in the wooden Keyblade and she gasped in surprise. "Oh it's on now," she said while narrowing her eyes at him. But Isa remained as stoic as ever and didn't even flinch from this challenge.

"Really? Not even a witty remark?"

"I find that there's a certain advantage to being stoic most of the time. Nobody can tell what you're thinking." Isa swung at her again and she very nearly avoided having her shoulder get bruised by the Claymore. She swung at his legs and Isa gazed at her in surprise as he fell to the hard ground which caused his Claymore to slip from his hand.

"Not bad, but it'll take more than that to take me down," Lea challenged. But he was defenseless now that his frisbees weren't within reach and she knocked him backwards with a swing of her wooden Keyblade. Lea groaned as he hit the cobblestones and rubbed his head sheepishly. "Man, you certainly know how to fight."

"I've had a lot of practice."

"Now you tell me," Isa groaned in annoyance. But it was soon replaced by a small smile.

"Well, what happens if I win? Lea and Isa were at a loss for words as they tried to think of an answer.

"How about a date?" This caused Ven's face to turn dark red and she started stammering.

"Um, I appreciate the offer, but..."

"Let me guess, you're in a relationship with someone?" Isa inquired.

"Not exactly," she replied as she thought about Dulor which caused her face to become an even darker red. After thinking it over for a couple seconds, Ventus thought of her answer. "I guess I really do like Dulor after all," she thought to herself.

Lea looked crestfallen for a couple seconds, but he soon perked up.

"Okay, maybe I'll see you around sometime."

While Lea waved goodbye to Ventus after picking up his frisbees, Isa grabbed his Claymore and nodded curtly to her. Once they were gone, Ventus pressed her pauldron and headed towards The Lanes Between to find Dulor and apologize to Aqua and Terra.

––––––

At the Mysterious Tower, Mickey, Mortimer, and Oswald stood before Yen Sid. "Now, I suppose the three of you are wondering why I summoned you hither. Your Mark of Mastery exams are at an end and I will now decide which of you become Keyblade Masters."

"Mickey and Oswald, I have decided to bestow the mantle of Keyblade Master on both of you. But never take this title in vain or shirk your duty to the worlds. Mortimer, the reason you are not a Keyblade Master is because your darkness is vast and could prove fatal if you lost control of your darkness."

Mortimer gaped at him for a couple moments until an angry expression appeared on his face. "Ha Cha Cha, I'm much more qualified for the title of Keyblade Master than these goody two shoes. But if I can't have the title of Keyblade Master, then they can't have it either."

Mortimer then summoned his Keyblade and prepared to hit Mickey and Oswald with it. But Yen Sid quickly summoned a portal and Mortimer gave the three of them a look of absolute hatred as he was sucked into the portal. It then closed and Yen Sid gazed at the two of them with an expression of sorrow.

"Mickey, Oswald, I'm sorry that I had to banish him. But I couldn't let Mortimer harm either one of you." Mickey and Oswald merely gazed around awkwardly as the Mysterious Tower fell silent.


	8. Dual Identities

After traveling through The Lanes Between for several minutes, Ventus found the world where she met Dulor. Soaring towards it, she entered the atmosphere and soon arrived at the castle. Her Keyblade Armor vanished as she slowly walked towards the massive castle. Pushing the doors open, Ventus walked inside and stopped when everyone inside paused to look at her.

"Uh, hello," she said nervously and started to leave when someone stopped her.

"Ventus?" She found herself looking up at a face with electric blue eyes that contained shock and surprise inside them.

"Dulor? Is it really you? You look so different from when we last met." The two of them merely stared at each other for a while until they suddenly rushed towards each other. Holding each other tightly, neither one wanted to let go. But they reluctantly let go when somebody cleared their throat. Looking around for the noise, they spotted Prince Charming and Cinderella looking at the two of them. Their faces turned dark red and they looked away from each other.

"So Ven, why did you come back?"

"I came back because I realized something important."

"And what would that be?" He inquired.

"After thinking it over for a while, I've realized that I really like you," she replied.

"So does that mean you're wanting to pursue a relationship with me?"

"If your brother doesn't mind, then sure." Dulor looked to his brother and saw nothing but acceptance in his eyes. Dulor then knew what his answer would be.

"Well, my brother doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Since he seems okay with it, I have a question to ask. Ventus, will you begin a relationship with me?" But he was cut off when Ventus kissed him.

"I already said yes, don't make me change my mind."

"So what do we do since we're now in a relationship?"

"I'm not sure myself," she replied since she's never had a boyfriend before. Both of them then turned to Prince Charming for advice.

"Well uh, I've often read about other worlds in the library. So I would suggest that you two go explore them and go from there."

"Brother, are you sure father won't mind if I leave with her?"

"I'm due to be taking his place as king soon anyway. So I'll fill him in after the two of you leave." Their eyes widened in surprise, but they nodded and exited the castle. Once they were outside, Ventus turned to face Dulor.

"Before we go, there's something I want to show you." Ventus then pressed her pauldron and Dulor noticed that every inch of her body was covered by armor once the light faded. "Well, here's my Keyblade Armor. What do you think?" Before Dulor could speak, Ventus seemed to realize something and she covered her mouth in surprise.

"I wasn't supposed to let anyone know about the Keyblade or the existence of other worlds. Stupid! Stupid!"

"Hey, it was a simple mistake on your part. Don't beat yourself up for it." His words caused Ventus to visibly relax and she looked at him gratefully. "Truth be told, this isn't really my home world." Upon noticing Ventus look at him in surprise, he explained further. "I originally came from a world known as Port Royal. But it was lost to the darkness and I found myself here."

"So that's my story, what about you?"

"I come from a world known as the Land of Departure. There, I lived with Aqua and Terra. All three of us trained together under Master Eraqus. But the three of us had a fight, and I don't know if we'll ever get along again since we left on sour notes."

"Sounds rough, should we go to visit other worlds and see what they have to offer?" Dulor asked. Ventus nodded at him and they prepared to leave.

"You'll need protection in The Lanes Between, this Keyblade Armor keeps the darkness from eating away at my heart. Here, grab my hand and hopefully it'll work." When Dulor grabbed her hand, it was like he was looking through a visor. Looking around, he noticed his hand was encased in armor and he gasped in surprise.

She then tossed her Keyblade into the air and it morphed into her Keyblade Glider. Ventus got on her Keyblade Glider and gestured for Dulor to get on. He reluctantly did so since he wasn't used to such advanced technology. Once the both of them were on, she opened a portal to The Lanes Between and raced towards it. Dulor almost fell off, but she grabbed his hand suddenly.

Once they were in The Lanes Between, Dulor marveled at how vast it seemed as they passed several various worlds. After cruising along for a while, they arrived at a new world Ventus had never seen before. Racing towards it, they soon landed on the ground and Ventus made her armor vanish by pressing her pauldron. The two of them noticed how festive everything seemed. "Are they holding a celebration or something here?" She asked herself.

Then, the two of them were caught off guard when a figure appeared suddenly by jumping out in front of them. "Tada! Wearing the mask of peace and hope…comes the fearless defender and hero of this town. It is me—Captain Justice! Just keep an eye out for my rival. The rogue racer, Captain Dark!"

"Huh? Umm…" For once, Ventus was at a loss for words. So was Dulor, but he was more subtle about it. When 'Captain Justice' walked closer to them, Dulor grabbed Ventus protectively and glared at the newcomer.

"Young Madame, do my hero—senses detect that you got troubles? Just say the word, and Captain Justice will make all your troubles disappear!" Dulor was tempted to tell 'Captain Justice' what he could do with his hero senses. But before he could, a new voice interrupted him.

"Pete! Don't tell me you're pestering these nice people." Pete turned around nervously and spotted a female duck standing there while giving him a look of warning.

"Hello there citizen I've never met before," he exclaimed dishonestly. I know not this 'Pete' you speak of, I am Captain Justice!"

"Honestly Pete, who do you think you're fooling? I know it's really you wearing that ridiculous outfit. Now take off that eyesore you call a costume and go elsewhere!" Realizing that the jig was up, Pete placed his massive hand by his ear and turned to face a random direction.

"What's that I hear? It sounds like Captain Dark is causing trouble somewhere in town. It looks like the great Captain Justice will have to stop his evil deeds once again." He then dashed off before Daisy could respond and she sighed in exasperation. Daisy then turned to face them with an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble Pete's been giving you. He's been causing trouble all over town with those ridiculous alter egos of his."

"It's okay your highness, I secretly found it rather amusing." Daisy looked confused, then she looked embarrassed.

"Oh, there's no need for such formalities. You can just call me Daisy."

"Sorry, I just thought you were the ruler of this world or something."

"Oh no, that position's been filled by Mickey. I'm just Queen Minnie's advisor."

"Sorry for the mistake, it won't happen again." Daisy then laughed for a couple seconds.

"No need to apologize, I'm actually rather flattered that you thought I was the ruler of this world. How would you two like to come and attend the Dream Festival?"

"Dream Festival?" Ventus didn't know what she was talking about and neither did Dulor.

"Every year, we hold an event known as the Dream Festival. The purpose of it is everyone votes for who they think the most exemplary citizen in this town is. The person who gets the most votes wins a special prize. But Pete's been after the Million Dreams Award for a while. So he's been disguising himself as Captain Justice and Captain Dark to get people to vote for him. But I don't think anyone's fooled by his disguises."

"That explains a lot actually," Ventus replied.

"Well, should we head towards the site of the Dream Festival to see who wins the Million Dreams Award?" Ventus and Dulor nodded, then they followed Daisy to see where the Dream Festival would be held. Along the way, the two of them noticed that banners, streamers, and balloons adorned every inch of the town. They soon arrived at a giant stage with red curtains.

"This is the stage where the Million Dreams Award will be presented to the most exemplary citizen of Disney Town," Daisy explained. Then, Queen Minnie walked up onto the stage and cleared her throat. This caused the crowd to fall silent as they all looked at her.

"This has taken a lot of work to set up, but it gives me great honor to announce the beginning of the Dream Festival. Will Huey, Dewie, and Louie please start preparing the ice cream for the guests?"

"I'm sorry Queen Minnie, but Unca Scrooge didn't show us to operate this machine," Dewie replied sadly.

"Oh dear, and I was hoping the guests would have ice cream to eat," Minnie said disappointedly.

"Maybe I can get it to work?" Ventus suggested. This caused everyone to look at her and she started to feel uncomfortable.

"It's no use. If Captain Justice couldn't get it to work, then I doubt you'll be able to either."

"Maybe not, but there's no harm in trying," Ventus replied.

"Yeah, and better you than him. Here ya go. Here are the directions for the machine." Huey then handed a manual to Ventus and she skimmed through it.

"I'm not entirely sure how to operate it, but I think I have the basics down." Ventus then climbed into a seat located on the machine and looked at the buttons and levers closely. She noticed a button that said ice cream, but nothing happened at first. The machine then started rumbling and ice cream started exiting from a tube and it landed in a bucket.

Once the bucket was full, Ventus turned the machine off and grabbed the bucket. But the ice cream was too heavy for her and Dulor ran over to help. The two of them managed to lug the bucket over and they set it down carefully. "Thanks for helping me Dulor." But Dulor's response was to just kiss her. They then faced Queen Minnie and she smiled at the two of them.

Huey then grabbed an ice cream cone and placed it in the bucket. A single scoop of ice cream was perched on the cone when he pulled it out and he hand it to Queen Minnie. "Hmm, how yummy. What a wonderful treat! I don't think I've ever had such delicious ice cream. Thank you— uh, oh, oh dear…"

"Oh, Ventus. Just Ven is fine."

"Well, thank you Ventus."

"Way to go Ven!" Huey exclaimed excitedly.

"I see… We just had to push this thingamajig the other way."

"Hey, I just got an idea! We could let our customers make up their own favorite flavors of ice cream!"

"Not with that machine! Well… The kid might have got it to work this one time. But junk like that needs to get junked!" Pete then lowered his massive hands as he attempted to dismantle the machine.

"Don't you dare, Pete!" Pete paused when he noticed Ventus, Dulor, Minnie, Daisy, Huey, Dewey, and Louie glaring at him.

"Fine, but Captain Justice will return!"

"I swear, that Pete is the biggest troublemaker in town!"

"I bet he's just calling himself Captain Justice and Captain Dark since he wants to win the Million Dreams Award."

"Now, shall we resume the Dream Festival?"

"Pete just wants to get his grubby hands on the prize."

"And he knows that nobody's gonna vote for him if he puts his own name on the ballot!"

"But nobody's fooled!"

"Yeah!" the three of them said in unison. Ventus merely smiled sadly at this and looked down at the ground.

"Wish somebody was looking out for me." But Dulor heard what she said and frowned. Before he could try and cheer her up, someone new arrived and started speaking.

"Who do you think's gonna win this year's Million Dreams Award?"

"Boy oh boy! I hope it's the girl I voted for!"

"I voted for her too!"

"Now that we got so much business at the shop, maybe we'll be number one!"

"Wow, Unca Scrooge sure would be proud of us if we actually won!"

"Yeah, I bet Unca Donald would be pretty surprised as well." But the three of them fell quiet when Queen Minnie cleared her throat.

"Hello everyone, and thank you for waiting. Now, it's time to begin the main event of our Dream Festival— the Million Dreams Award presentation." They were unaware of a nearby figure watching the scene and laughing to himself.

"Heh! Just skip to the part where you say my name. This is a shoo-in!"

"Oh, how very exciting. This year we have multiple winners. The Million Dreams Award goes to… Ventus, Aqua, and Terra. All three of you!" Now Ventus was confused and the crowd started cheering.

"Huh? When were Aqua and Terra here?" But Pete lumbered past her as he ran towards the stage.

"What do you mean? There's gotta be a mistake. Everybody voted for Captain Justice. I made sure! Now go on, tell her!" When nobody said anything, he thought of an idea. "Better try the other one… The rogue racer, Captain Dark!" The crowd audibly groaned at this and faced away from Pete.

"Pete, we counted the votes very carefully. Ventus, Aqua, and Terra won. Oh, Pete, I think you tried to do something good. But you were doing it for the wrong reasons. And you went about it the wrong way. Still, a couple of citizens must have believed that you had goodness in you because you actually got a few votes. They knew you were looking out for them."

"Big whoop! I don't need their lousy votes. Just cough up my prize!" Now Minnie was fed up with Pete's behavior and she stared at him angrily.

"Pete! They voted for you because they believe in you and care about you. How could you look down on that? I've tried to forgive a lot of things you've done, but this is too much. Now you've finally crossed the line."

"Like that matters to me. Besides, what are you gonna do about it?"

"Ha! I'm going to let you cool off for a while. Guards!" Six enchanted brooms appeared and started marching towards the stage. They climbed the stairs and started surrounding Pete. He looked around in confusion as they lifted him up and started to carry him away.

"Hey! Let me go! Put me down! What!?" Everyone was unaware that an eleven year old figure was watching everything.

"Dad, why did you have to let the greed get the better of you? Think about mom and Pistol, what will they do when they find out about this?" A single tear slid down his eye when he thought about their reactions. Pistol would be upset since she looked up to Pete while his mom would probably be in denial about it for a little while before accepting it.

"Hey Peej, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Max. I'm just worried about their reactions when they find out."

"You mean Pistol and your mom?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry Peej, I'm sure everything will be be alright."

Thanks Max."

"Anytime PJ." PJ was surprised since Max rarely called him by his real name.

"Hey Max, the festival is starting again." The two adolescents turned their attention back to the festival and noticed that Queen Minnie looked stressed out.

"Now, shall we continue the ceremony? Would the three winners Ventus, Aqua, and Terra, please come up and join me on the stage? Oh dear, it looks like our other two winners couldn't make it here to be with us today."

"They both already left," Ventus muttered disappointedly and Dulor squeezed her hand as reassurance.

"Perhaps you would accept the award on their behalf? After all, you've been so kind to so many here at the Dream Festival."

"I haven't really done that much to help out," Ventus protested.

"Nonsense dear, you managed to get rid of those monsters before they could harm anyone and I sincerely thank you for that. So now, I hereby present the Million Dreams Award… As a token of how much you matter to us. Congratulations!"

"Thanks."

"And as an extra treat, we've created something special—an ice cream flavor just for you. Double Crunch ice cream!"

"Oh my. I wish I had my own ice cream flavor!"

"What's it taste like?"

"Go on, try it!"

"What do you think?"

"Mmm, wow! It's great!"

"We're all very glad you're enjoying it."

––––––

As Pete was looking around the strange dimension the brooms had tossed him into, his thoughts drifted to his family. "Peg, PJ, Pistol," I won't be back for a while since Queen Minnie banished me. Pistol, you will probably be upset when you find out since you look up to me so much."

"Ha Cha Cha, fancy running into you here Pete. What's with the ridiculous getup?" That voice, it couldn't be.

"Same oughta be said for you Mortimer, I thought you were an apprentice to that loony wizard." This caused Mortimer to grit his teeth and he scowled.

"I was, but Yen Sid banished me from his tower for trying to attack Mickey and Oswald."

"Well, so you tried to get one over on the boat boy king?"

"Ha Cha Cha, I doubt you would be interested in the story. But yes, I tried to attack Mickey and Oswald since Yen Sid decided I wasn't ready for the title of Keyblade Master. And I would have gotten away with it too had Yen Sid not banished me here."

"Well, any enemy of the boat boy king is an ally of mine. Let's try and bust out of here so we can get revenge on Mickey." But a new voice spoke before he could say anything.

"Quiet fools, neither of you possess that kind of power."

"Who… Who's there? Show yourself!" Pete demanded.

"That is enough! Stop your sniveling and heed my words.

"Um… Okay."

"If you both you do exactly as I say, I may decide to release you from this prison."

"Really!? Oh, then you can count on me. Just get me outta here, and you can tell me what to do!" Mortimer was hesitant at first, but the desire for revenge on Yen Sid soon outweighed his hesitation.

"Ha Cha Cha, I'll show Yen Sid that he'll regret not making me a Keyblade Master. I'm in." As Mortimer said this, his eyes briefly changed to yellow before returning to their natural black.

"A very wise choice indeed. Now… Proceed." A swirling portal that consisted purely of darkness appeared and they glanced at it in confusion. "With your help, soon every world in existence will all be mine!" The two of them then walked through the portal and found themselves in front of an foreboding looking castle encased in thorns.

Waiting for them was a sorceress with green skin. "I am known as Maleficent, and we have much to discuss."

––––––

The Dream Festival had just ended and Ventus watched as the residents helped take down the decorations so they could be reused for next year's Dream Festival. Ventus and Dulor soon became acquainted with Chip, Dale, Horace, Clarabelle, Clara, Max, PJ, Pistol, Peg, and Von Drake. As Minnie and Daisy oversaw the effort to take down the decorations, Ventus approached them.

"I'd like to stay and help, but I'm going to leave so I can search for my friends."

"That's okay dear, we have more than enough people helping out with the decorations." The residents of Disney Town waved goodbye to the two of them as Ventus and Dulor departed on her Keyblade Glider to reunite with Aqua and Terra.

––––––

Elsewhere, two figures were observing Ventus and Dulor. "So, my weaker half has found someone she likes. Pitiful, the very notion of that makes me want to punch her."

"Patience Vanitas, you will get your chance once she's a lot stronger. But he intrigues me, almost like I could use him as a backup vessel should my plan to possess Terra fall through." Vanitas scoffed at this, but said nothing further.


	9. Olympic Capers And The Town At Sunset

As Ventus and Dulor soared through The Lanes Between, they arrived at a world with ancient looking architecture. They then noticed a massive space ship soaring through The Lanes Between. "Dulor, which of the two should we visit first?" Dulor was caught off guard by this question as he struggled to think of an answer.

"Well, we should probably visit the world with the ancient architecture first," Dulor suggested. Ventus nodded at him and they raced towards the new world. As they entered the atmosphere, Ventus noticed a town below them and descended towards it. She waited until the ground was a lot closer and jumped off her Keyblade Glider before beckoning to Dulor.

Dulor was hesitant at first, but he jumped off and stumbled for a couple seconds as he struggled to regain his balance. Ventus then willed her armor away and her Keyblade Glider morphed back into Wayward Wind. Her Keyblade vanished and they started walking towards a massive building located at the edge of town.

They walked up to the massive doors and the two of them strained as they were slowly pushed open. The doors were eventually opened enough to where they could slip through easily. They noticed a figure muttering to himself near some marble braziers with fires burning on top and they walked over to him.

"Oy, the kid's relentless."

"Hey, what are you doing there?" The figure whirled around in surprise and looked at them with an annoyed expression.

"I told ya, I'm booked solid. N-O spells forget it! Huh? And who in the heck are you two? Can't you see I'm busy?" He then noticed Ventus and stared at her intently before letting out a small whistle. "Well, you certainly have the right attributes unlike your friend here." Ventus gasped in surprise and knelt down to his level. She then raised her hand and slapped him across the face.

"You dirty pervert!" She screamed.

"Who do you think you are to talk to my girlfriend in such a way?" Dulor asked coldly. The figure was caught off guard by this and he glanced around nervously.

"Way to go Phil, you just had to open your big mouth," he muttered to himself. Dulor narrowed his eyes and pointed to Ventus.

"Apologize to her, now!"

"Alright, jeez. Look, I'm sorry. I should have held my tongue." Before anyone else could speak, a new voice was heard and his annoyed expression returned. Everyone turned to see a teenage boy with curly orange hair and blue eyes run towards them while holding up a loose fitting toga.

"Hey, Phil! I'm all signed up! Phil!"

"All right, Herc, I hear ya! Now would ya keep it down already."

"Aha!" Another new voice said.

"Beautiful… You happy now? You blew my cover!"

"Okay, time to 'fess up. I asked around, and everybody says you're the guy. The trainer of heroes!"

"True heroes!" Hercules protested. Now Ventus was baffled.

"Really? You can teach that?"

"Of course he can. C'mon, Phil, please. I really wanna be a hero."

"Look, we've been through this… I got two words for you—student-teacher ratio!"

"One, two... Um? I think that's three words."

"Whatever kid, I already got my hands full with this one, come on Herc."

"Bad enough a goat tries to hit on me, now he calls me a kid when I'm not," Ventus muttered. But Phil heard this and he turned around indignantly.

"I am not a goat, I'm a Satyr! I got three words for you, big difference. And we've already got enough goats in Thebes. So I could do without being called a goat, thank you very much."

"But I'm low maintenance, I swear!" The newcomer protested as if the events of the last couple minutes never happened. But he was interrupted by a bunch of Unversed appearing out of nowhere.

"Unversed! Dulor, can you fight?" Ventus asked seriously.

"I brought this sword with me from the Enchanted Dominion."

"Good, can you protect Phil while the three of us take care of these Unversed?"

"Dulor nodded and he glared at Phil in warning.

"I have a name you know, and it just happens to be Zack Fair." Zack then focused on the Unversed and a confident expression crossed his face. "Monsters, Huh… Hey Phil! Watch this! I'll show you what I'm made of."

"And I'll help too!" Hercules exclaimed. Phil then hid behind Dulor so he could safely watch the battle unfold. But Dulor didn't look happy about Phil being near him. Still, he would protect the Satyr as best he could if it was what Ventus wanted. The Unversed then lunged at Ventus, Zack, and Hercules. But the trio fended them off. Ventus and Zack slashed at several of the Unversed while Hercules punched them with his fist.

A couple of Unversed drifted away from the main swarm to attack Dulor and Phil. Dulor sliced a couple in half with his sword and they dissolved into wisps of darkness. But although the Unversed were now wary of him, they edged cautiously forward only to stop when he pointed his sword at them in warning.

While he was distracted by the Unversed in front of him, another Unversed snuck up behind Dulor and rammed him in the back. Dulor was caught off guard by this and the Unversed all started moving in on him as he fell to the dusty coliseum floor. But a thunder spell connected with all of them and they disappated into wisps of darkness.

Ventus then rushed over worriedly and helped him up. He then gasped in surprise when she punched him lightly in the arm. "What was that for?"

"Don't you ever scare me like that again! I thought the Unversed were going to seriously hurt you or do something worse." It took a moment for Dulor to catch on, but he soon realized what she was implying.

"Ventus, I am so sorry if I worried you like that. I'll have to make sure and be more careful in the future." She then looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"But how do I know that? I was excited to have you along at first, but now I'm not so sure."

"Are you trying to tell me that we should break up?" Ventus looked hurt at that and averted her gaze.

"I would never break up with you, just try and be more alert in the future so this doesn't happen again."

"How can I make it up to you? Please, I'll do anything." Ventus mused this over for a couple seconds until she thought of an answer.

"I might forgive you if we go out on a date while we're here."

"Okay, but the problem is I don't know of any places around here," Dulor replied.

"I'm not sure either, maybe Herc knows of any places where we can grab a bite to eat." The two of them then walked over and Ventus tapped Hercules on the shoulder. He turned around and looked at her quizzically. "I was wondering if you knew of any places around here that sold food." He paused for a couple minutes until he thought of a nearby place.

"Oh, maybe you should try the Titan Tavern. Just go towards the street right outside the coliseum gates and take a right until you see a black and green building. I haven't really gone in there, but I heard they have really good food."

"Thanks for the suggestion Herc."

"Oh, you can call me Hercules."

"I will, thanks for the directions." The two of them then exited the coliseum and walked down the massive steps. They then reached the street and turned right as Hercules suggested. Ventus and Dulor looked at all the buildings until they spotted the building that Hercules mentioned. Walking towards it, they headed inside and noticed that it was surprisingly empty.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Dulor asked nervously. "This place gives me bad vibes."

"Thank you, thank you. That almost sounds like a compliment. Eh, guess I'll take it since beggars can't be choosers." A puff of blue smoke then appeared to reveal a figure behind the counter. His smile had all the charm of a particularly mean rattlesnake and he leered nastily at Ventus. "Well, it appears I'm fortunate enough to be blessed by the presence of a Keybearer."

"How do you know about the Keyblade?"

"Not so fast, introductions first. I am Hades, otherwise known as the lord of the dead. Are you two are?"

"Why should we give our names to a sleazy creep like you?" Ventus demanded. His smile faded and his fire changed to a vibrant orange as he grew angry.

"I am the lord of the dead! I was going to give you two food free of charge, but now I think I'll have your souls for eternity." Ventus and Dulor then hurried outside before he could trap them in the building. But he simply appeared outside and blocked their path. By this point, his flames had returned to their usual blue and he smiled at them smugly.

"Did you really think you could escape the lord of the dead so easily?" But he was interrupted when Hercules barreled towards him. "So sorry. I'd like to stay and chat, but I have more important matters to attend to. Monsters to unleash, souls to torment." He then vanished in a puff of blue smoke as he returned to the Underworld.

"Blast! He got away," Hercules muttered to himself. Oh! I'd better head back to the coliseum so I can see what Phil has planned for me and Zack." And with that, he ran back to the coliseum in a hurry. Ventus and Dulor stared in disbelief until he was gone from sight.

"Well I don't know about you, but I think we might have to postpone that date for a while," Ventus said and Dulor nodded at her. The two of them then got on her Keyblade Glider and soared to the next world. "Oh, I haven't seen that world before." Ventus pointed at a unfamiliar world bathed in sunset and a massive clock tower that loomed over the entire town.

They soon entered the atmosphere of the world and landed on the ground safely. The two of them then started walking around this unfamiliar world. "Excuse me, do you know of any places around here that sell food?" Ventus asked a passerby.

"Um, maybe you should try the diner up by the train station," the passerby suggested.

"Thanks." Ventus and Dulor then started walking towards the train station. Along the way, she took notice of an arcade close to the diner. Oh! Dulor, let's check out the arcade first and see what games they have."

"But Ventus, shouldn't we eat first and then go to the arcade? After all, we haven't ate in a while." Ventus mused this over for a couple seconds and nodded at him.

"Yeah, you're right. I am kinda hungry." They then entered the diner and walked up to the counter.

"Welcome to Kronk's diner, how may I help you two?"

"Um, I'll have a chicken burger and a vanilla milkshake if you have them," Ventus replied.

"And I'll have… I'm not sure what I want, everything looks so good." Ventus then took notice of something on the menu and pointed at it.

"Oh, how about a cheeseburger and fries?" Ventus suggested.

"Uh, sure," Dulor replied. Once he was done writing down their orders, he looked at them.

"Okay, so the lady will have a sesame chicken and a sugar overload. And the gentleman will have a beef bonanza and some potatoes by the sea. Is that right?" Although they were baffled by his unusual language, they nodded at him and he disappeared into the kitchen. The two of them then sat down at a booth and waited patiently for their food.

Ten minutes later, the food arrived and a waiter set it down on their booth. The waiter then disappeared into the kitchen. "Well, let's eat!" Ventus then took a bite of her chicken burger and her eyes lit up. "Wow, this tastes amazing!" Ventus exclaimed. After a couple moments of hesitation, Dulor picked up one of the fries and placed it in his mouth.

His eyes widened and a surprised expression crossed his face as the taste practically exploded in his mouth. "Wow. This reminds me of the food they had at the Castle of Dreams." A nostalgic smile appeared on his face as he thought about everyone at the palace.

"Hey, Dulor. How about we try this milkshake since we've barely touched it."

"Sure," he replied and took a couple sips at the same time as Ventus. But he paused as cobalt blue locked with electric blue. After staring at each other for a couple moments, they pushed the food aside and kissed each other. But they only stopped for two reasons. They were running out of air, and the other patrons were giving them uncomfortable looks.

"Sorry," Ventus apologized. Everyone then returned to their meals and resumed their conversations. Once they had finished their meal, Ventus then got up from the table and walked over to the counter. After a couple moments, a massive man with bulging muscles emerged from the kitchen and started pressing keys on the cash register.

"Okay, your total for the meal will be 280 Munny." Ventus pulled the required money out and handed it to him. He then pressed a couple more keys and the cash register opened. While he placed the Munny in the cash register, she pulled out an additional 40 Munny and placed it in a tip jar. "Thanks for the tip, hope you come back soon so I can whip up some more food for the two of you or my name isn't Kronk," he said after closing the cash register.

"No problem." He then waved goodbye to Ventus and Dulor as they exited the diner to head to the arcade. They then entered the arcade where they were greeted by a man with thick glasses who was wearing a black and white striped shirt and beige pants.

"Welcome to my arcade. I am Mr Litwak, and you too are?"

"Uh, I'm Ventus."

"And I'm Dulor."

"Ah, nice to have you two as potential customers in my arcade. Just watch out since the games tend to go cuckoo from time to time, like my nana. Well, free free to look around and play any games that catch your interest. Here's some quarters to get you started." He then handed them some quarters.

"Uh, don't these arcade machines accept Munny?" Ventus asked. Mr Litwak looked puzzled for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nope, sorry. They only accept quarters. But I am working on getting some new arcade machines that accept Munny." Ventus and Dulor nodded at him and he walked away to welcome some more customers.

"So which game should we try first?"

"Maybe we should play that game first," Dulor suggested and pointed to a arcade game that was called Fix it Felix Jr.

"Seems like a simple enough game." But before they could play it, a portal suddenly appeared and sucked the two of them into it. Mr Litwak scratched his head in confusion at this.

"That was odd. I guess I'm starting to go cuckoo, like my nana."


End file.
